Continental Philosophy

Continental philosophy
in contemporary usage, refers to a set of traditions of 19th and 20th century philosophy from mainland Europe. This sense of the term originated among English-speaking philosophers in the second half of the 20th century, who found it useful for referring to a range of thinkers and traditions outside the analytical movement.

Continental philosophy includes the following movements:

 German idealism  Phenomenology  existentialism  Hermeneutics  Structuralism  post-structuralism  French feminism  critical theory of the Frankfurt School  other branches of Western Marxism

General Characteristics:
 reject scientism Continental philosophers often argue that science depends upon a pretheoretical substrate of experience.  tends toward historicism Continental philosophy typically suggests that "philosophical argument cannot be divorced from the textual and contextual conditions of its historical emergence.

holds that conscious human agency can change certain conditions of possible experience

emphasis on metaphilosophy

Edmund Gustav Albrecht Husserl

(April 8, 1859 April 26, 1938)

Biography
 German philosopher, regarded founder of phenomenolgy.  He was born into a Moravian Jewish family but baptized as Lutheran in 1887.  He studied mathematics and completed a PhD, then studied philosophy.  Husserl taught philosophy from 1887. He became a professor, first at Gttingen from 1901, and later at Greiburg from 1916 until his 1928 retirement.

 In 1884, he began to attend Franz Brentano's lectures on psychology and philosophy at the University of Vienna.  Philosophy of Arithmetic his first major work From Weierstrass he derives the idea that we generate the concept of number by counting a certain collection of objects. From Brentano and Stumpf he takes over the distinction between proper and improper presenting.

Intentionality It refers to the notion

that consciousness is always consciousness of something. - (in tension) "stretching out" - aboutness

Phenomenology
(from Greek: phainmenon "that which appears"; and lgos "study")

Phenomenology
 systematic reflection on and analysis of
the structures of consciousness, and the phenomena which appear in acts of consciousness

 directedness towards an object

Intuition It refers to those cases where the

intentional object is directly present to theintentionality at play; if the intention is "filled" by the direct apprehension of the object, you have an intuited object. Noesis and Noema Greek nous (mind),

Noesis - part of the act which gives it a

particular sense or character

Noema - object or content of a thought,

judgment or perception

Empathy - which literally translates as in

feeling, is the capability to share another being's emotions and feelings.

Intersubjectivity - "The sharing of

subjective states by two or more individuals."

Bracketing epoch or the

phenomenological reduction - "unpacking" phenomena or systematically peeling away their symbolic meanings

Seychelles Island

People
Nationality: Noun and adjective--Seychellois. Population (July 2009 est.): 87,476. Annual growth rate (2009 est.): 0.999%. Ethnic groups: Creole (European, Asian, and African). Religions: Catholic 82.3%, Anglican Church 6.4%, Seventh Day Adventist 1.1%, other Christian 3.4%, Hindu 2.1%, Muslim 1.1%, other 1.5%, unspecified 1.5%, none 0.6%. Languages: Official languages are Creole, English, and French. Education: Public schools and private schools, compulsory through grade 10. Literacy--92%. Health: Free government health services for all people. Life expectancy--male 68.33 yrs, female 77.85 yrs. Infant mortality rate--12.3/1,000. Work force: 39,560 with 3,550 unemployed. Industries include tourism, fishing, manufacturing, and construction.

Government
Type: Multiple-party republic. Independence: June 29, 1976. Constitution: June 18, 1993. Branches: Executive--president (chief of state and head of government). Legislative-unicameral National Assembly with 34 seats (25 directly elected and 9 allocated on a proportional basis). Judicial--Supreme Court, Appeals Court. Political parties: Democratic Party (DP), Seychelles National Party (SNP), Seychelles People's Progressive Front (SPPF). Suffrage: Universal at 17

Economy
GDP (2008, official exchange rate): $779 million. Annual growth rate (2008): 3.1%. Per capita income (2008, purchasing power parity): $17,000. Average inflation rate (2008): 25.8%. Natural resources: Fish. Agriculture: Copra, cinnamon, vanilla, coconuts, sweet potatoes, tapioca, bananas, tuna, chicken, teas. Industry: Tourism, re-exports, maritime services. Trade: Exports (2008)--$425 million: canned tuna, frozen/fresh fish, frozen prawns, cinnamon bark. Imports (2008)--$952 million. Major partners--U.K., France, Mauritius, Japan, Italy, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Saudi Arabia. Official exchange rate (2008): 8 rupees=U.S.$1. Aid per capita (2003): $110.